City eased any current relegation fears by comfortably brushing aside Bolton Wanderers by two goals to nil at an extremely cold Britannia Stadium on Wednesday night.

Man of the Match James Beattie hit his fifth goal in seven to fire the Potters ahead after just 14 minutes before Ricardo Fuller secured all three points with a clinically taken second in the 73rd minute.

The win see's the Potters move up to 15th place in the Premier League after a number of results went their way, leaving them seven points ahead of bottom placed West Brom and three above Middlesbrough

Tony Pulis made three changes from the side which secured a point following an outstanding comeback against Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon. Abdoulaye Faye was passed fit to return to the backline at the expense of Ibrahima Sonko, while Rory Delap returned from his three match ban to start on the left hand side of midfield.

Glenn Whelan, who fired home that outstanding injury time leveller at Villa Park, was also handed a start alongside Salif Diao with Amdy Faye dropping onto the bench. Denmark international Thomas Sorensen was also passed fit after being forced off at half time last time out following a collision with Gabriel Agbonlahor.

An electric atmosphere swept through the Britannia Stadium as the two sides entered the field of play, with the City players knowing a three point haul would almost certainly see them elevate themselves out of the bottom three after both West Brom and Sunderland slipped up just 24 hours prior.

A series of slick passes down the left flank almost led to the visitors taking the lead in the 11th minute, however, Thomas Sorensen was equal to Johan Elmander's close range effort and expertly parried it over the bar.

City responded in brilliant fashion though and took the lead with their first chance of the game just three minutes later. Gary Megson's side failed to deal with Abdoulaye Faye's long punt forward and the in form Whelan nipped in to head the ball through to Beattie, and he made no mistake from ten yards by slamming the ball past the helpless Jussi Jaaskelainen.

The entertaining start to the game continued shortly after as Sweden international Elmander tried his luck with an audacious 35-yard effort which thankfully dipped just over Sorensen's bar. The City stopper again had to be alert to save from former Portsmouth star Matthew Taylor who fired goalwards after good work from the lively Kevin Davies.

The hosts soon grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck though and could have made it two in the 31st minute, had towering defender Ryan Shawcross found the target after being picked out by the influential Liam Lawrence.

A fierce Elmander free-kick from 30-yards tested the hands of Sorensen, before Delap pegged the visitors into their own penalty area with a series of trademark long throw-ins. However, Jaaskelainen and Gary Cahill amicably ensured there was no second goal before the half time interval, which with it, brought a heavy downfall of snow.

Neither side made any changes during the half time break, however, it wasn't long until Pulis played his first card by introducing top goalscorer Ricardo Fuller with Mamady Sidibe making way. Former Potters boss Gary Megson responded by replacing Fabrice Muamba with Ricardo Gardner, while Amdy Faye then came on with the exhausted looking Diao taken off.

The game continued with the City backline having to fend off the dangerous Davies and Elmander before a classic counter attack almost saw Andy Wilkinson grab his first ever top flight goal, but after jigging past Andy O'Brien he fizzed a powerful effort wide of the keeper's right hand post.

City were let off the hook just after the hour mark as the visitors thought they had drawn the match level. Mark Davies whipped in a ferocious ball into the box which appeared to have been scrambled in to the net by namesake Kevin, however the referee blew up for obstruction on Sorensen, which was evident on subsequent television replays.

With City looking calm and confident defending their lead, things got a whole lot comfier ten minutes later when Fuller stated his return to the home faithful by lashing the ball past Jaaskelainen at the second attempt after he did well to thwart the lively Republic of Ireland international Whelan.

Two could have been turned into three shortly after when substitute Sonko brilliantly powered a header goalwards which beat the keeper, only to see it cannon back off the crossbar, before being scrambled away from danger by a brutalised Bolton backline.

Megson threw one last role of the dice in the latter stages as defender Gretar Steinsson, who many of you may remember for scoring that opening goal of the campaign against the Potters back in August, was replaced by the more attacking force of Ariza Makukula.

Despite the on loan Benfica star looking lively alongside Davies, it was City who could have ultimately added more goals, with Lawrence spurning the best chance after attempting to round the keeper when Fuller had cleverly played him through on goal.

Four minutes of stoppage time were added, but Pulis' side held on comfortably to pick up their first win by more than one goal since the 4-2 victory at Wolves over one year ago, but only after Sorensen provided a superb theatrical save to deny Elmander right at the death.